Ivy Reviews: The Little Green Clean Machine

Remember this disaster? Well, I decided to just let my uncle have my carpet cleaner (since we’re pretty short on carpeting at Chez Ivy) and I bought myself a Little Green Clean Machine instead. Obligatory transparency statement: I was not paid to or asked to review this item. This is all me, kids.

So, let’s talk about the Little Green Clean Machine. (Henceforth to be called the LGCM since typing the whole thing out takes some effort.) As you all know, I had a heinous mess to clean up, so instead of what I’d usually do, clean up the mess with rags and then use some Spot Shot on it, I wanted something to be able to suck up the mess as well as clean it.

What I liked about it:

The LGCM does, in fact, suck. In the way you want it to. I wondered how well the suction action would work on such a small machine, and I’m pleased to report that it works very well. I’d say it sucks up about 80% of the water that I used on it- not bad at all. Now, in order to get all that water sucked up, you need to be sure to push down hard on the cleaning head. Because of that, I’m not sure how well it would work on a carpet you can’t do that to, like Berber.

It was easy to use: setup required attaching two hose clips, only one of which needed to be screwed in with a screwdriver. Within about 5 minutes, I was ready to clean. The instructions were written fairly well and were not confusing.

The sprayer works well. In fact, a bit too well. (See “what I didn’t like” for more) It covered the area I was cleaning and then some. I also really liked being able to see the dirty water that was being sucked into the machine through the clear head in the cleaning head. Though, I was a bit grossed out to see what I had been sitting on lately, ha. But by being able to see what was coming in, I could clean an area until I was satisfied that it was really clean- an option that my full sized carpet cleaner did not have.

I was able to clean the mess up quite well and very quickly, which is really important to me. I don’t want to be there all day setting up and taking things down, and setup and clean-up was very quick. Awesome.

Now, let’s talk about the things I didn’t like.

What I didn’t like:

Like I said, the sprayer worked too well. Like, it sprayed about twice the size of the cleaning head, which would be fine except that it went everywhere when cleaning the arms of my couch. I’d like to be able to control the amount of spray coming out of the sprayer.

Also, the hose was awfully short. I don’t have any stairs, but if I did have them, I’d like to use something like this to clean them, but I could imagine that this would be a pain when cleaning stairs, as I had to keep the machine close at hand while cleaning my couch.

The other thing I don’t like about it is that it seems that the only product you can really use on it is the stuff designed especially for the LGCM. I’d like to have an option of one to remove pet stains, since I doubt it’s specifically designed to remove the enzymes that need to be removed when cleaning up pet messes.

Overall, I really liked the LGCM and am glad I bought it. The pluses way outweigh the minuses. Next, I’m going to use it to clean my car. I can only imagine the nasty water that’ll come out of THAT! I can hardly wait, haha.

I bought the LGCM a number of years ago, and I sold it on eBay. The woman I sold it to said it is missing the following. (Bissell 1-800-237-7691 Part 603-0978 Dispenser bottle includes cap ring and cap insert.) She said she has looked around and can't find the part. Does anyone know where I can get this part? Thanks for listening.
Sarah

My Mom was really fond of her Big Green Clean Machine, but not so much of the cleaning solution (for some reason it left sticky spots on the carpet), so she started using diluted Simple Green instead. I’ll just say this is not recommended by the manufacturer, but it got out pet stains (cat vomit, dog pee and poo) and normal people stuff (drinks spilled, shoe dirt) very well as long as it was rinsed. And MUCH cheaper then the Bissell stuff! It is available in big bottles at places like Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc. (and no, I’m not being compensated, either!) Maybe I should get a LGCM for the cat puke problem I have instead of the blot and scrub method I currently use…

Ivy,
I’ve used a LGCM for years and love it. The Bissell pet cleaner works well in it, and I’ve found that you can use any brand cleaner that is designed for a compact machine.
I use my LGCM on the steps all the time: it’s just a matter of placing the machine on the step above or below where you’re working. It’s a little awkward but works fine.
I used my LGCM so much that I wore out the cleaning head. Luckily the Bissell website offers replacement parts, so I spent $7 instead of having to replace the whole machine.
Enjoy!

Hi Judith,
Would you please send the Bissell website linc. I can't seem to find it. The search keeps sending me to other places. By-the-way, I am looking for Part 603-0978 Dispenser bottle includes cap ring and cap insert. If you have any other suggestions, I would love your help.

A couple tips- the closer you get the cleaner head to the spot you’re trying to clean the smaller the area it sprays. I usually spray about an inch away from really small spots and it keeps it pretty concentrated to that area.

As far as cleaners for pet stains, the LGCM is a Bissell product and they make a pet cleaner for the full size carpet cleaner that I’ve used in my LGCM with no problems.